"DAMN IT!!" Emma roared as the director yelled, "CUT!" and reamed the background dancers for not following the steps the choreographer gave them. They were out fo the proper lighting and everyone was tired of being there. Emma strode to the director and asked him to just have them hit the playback so she could see what was going on behind her and change the step some so they could finish the shoot . "Okay sweetpants.." he grinned at her, "anything YOU want." he said. Emma rolled her eyes behind his back. What a suck up. She watched the dancers and an idea came to her. "Do you mind?" she asked when she explained it to the director and Bob. "Not if it gets us the FUCK outta here.." Bob said and sat down to watch what she did. She gathered the background dancers, explained what she wanted to try, then they all took their places. The music blared and they got through the next couple of scenes without a problem. "Okay people, that's a wrap. Nice working with you again." he yelled and everyone went about gathering their things to go HOME. Emma joked wih the band as she stuffed her things in her bag and changed her clothes on the floor. "Damn Woman!" Bob growled at her. "Down boy. I'll tell the blonde bombshell you got waitin' at home." she laughed. "It's not like you haven't ever seen me like this anyway, and I'm late and Zac is probably already home. I just wanna go home." she said. "Hey...you and the ZACSTUD oughta come hang out and lose some more money to me sometime." he grinned. Emma rolled her eyes. "I'll ask. But he's getting ready to go on the road." she slipped on her shoes and slung her bag over her shoulder, pulling her cell phone from it. "Hey when you're in town or in Detroit.." he smiled and took a pull off his beer as she dialed Zac's cell number. "Damn. I hate voice mail." she grouched, then took a deep breath. "Hey drummerman. I'm running late, I should be home in twenty minutes. Could you please bring in the mail so the little butthead down the street doesn't steal my paycheck? I missed you, ZACSTUD." she giggled and winked at Bob, who made a gagging face. "Home soon baby. Love you." she finished and flipped her phone shut, then stuffed it in it's pocket in her bag. "See ya, hate ta be ya.." she giggled at Kid, who shook his head. "That girl ain't right." he said to his bandmate as she walked confidently away and they both chuckled. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!!" the director came chasing after her as she grabbed the door handle. "Emma, sweetie.." he grinned out of breath. "I need to talk to you." he said. "Hurry up. I'm going home. Or can't you call me tomorrow?" she sighed. "I just wanna know how you feel about choreography. You could do well with that and I need one soon, I think your style would be perfect." he said. "I'm game. Call Jack and work it out with him, but I'm going to Tulsa in a couple weeks. I need some time off." she told him. "Okay, sweetpants." he smiled. "I'll be in touch." he said. "Yeah, later...much." she rolled her yes as she headed out the door. Zac smiled as he listened to Emma's message in his voice mail. His whole body tingled with anticipation. He was dying to hold her, bury his face in her hair, make love to her and listening to her smooth, sexy voice tease him and call him 'Zacstud' on this recording was NOT helping. He hoped she'd misjudged the time frame and would be home when he got there. Unfortunately, she was right. She wasn't home when he got there, so her grabbed a beer out of the fridge and her mailbox key. He went out into the hall and opened her overstuffed mailbox. "Sheesh. " he groaned, "Did she forget to check her mail all week?" He pulled it all out and began to sort it into a neater pile. He grinned when he saw three different paychecks and KNEW she'd be in the mood to celebrate when she saw them. He pitched all the junk mail, knowing she'd do the same without even looking at it, then noticed that the large manilla envelope was addressed to him. "What the fuck?" he questioned and shut the door behind him. He sat down on the couch, opened the envelope and pulled out a stack of photos. "What the hell is this?" he wondered and then he really SAW the photos. His hands shook and his heart pounded wildly as all the color drained from his face. "Oh...my....god." he groaned as he sifted through them. The images before him made his head spin and his stomach turn. He threw them violently across the coffee table telling himself they couldn't POSSIBLY be true. HE KNEW HER, and this was NOT his EMMA. It couldn't be. Suddenly his body shook and tears spilled down his cheeks unchecked. He rested his elbows on his knees and buried his hands in his own hair, gasping to hold back his sobs until he could talk to her and make her tell him the truth. A few more painful seconds and he couldn't hold back his scream of rage, then he sat and cried, painful sobs wracking his body.

Another few minutes and Zac looked up to wipe his face, then noticed the note and a second set of pictures. He reluctantly picked up the note and read it. well, well. little miss priss finally hit the big time, did she? as you can see she's been 'in training' for that kind of shit for a long time. hope she makes you feel that good, or at least your brother. enjoy the photos and tell miss priss she better start giving credit (and cash) where it's due. Zac's blood boiled and he felt his face get hot, then he bothered to look at a dated set of pictures, all of Tay looking goo-goo eyed at Emma while she danced. Though he knew the truth about that situation, the dates on the photos told him that Tay had known about Emma's dancing alot longer than he let on. Which told him he had spent the majority of his time trying to win her over to him. But the other pictures, they were older, he realized as he MADE himself look at them. Emma couldn't have been more than seventeen at the time these were taken. He let out another guttural roar and threw the photo in his hand down on the table. Emma's heart skipped a beat when she pulled into her parking lot and Zac's truck was already there. She swung her bag over her shoulder and hurried inside. She turned the door knob, thinking it odd that she didn't hear the TV or Zac yelling at his video games. She swung the door open and called out, "Zac, baby are you..." she stopped dead in her tracks to see him sitting on her couch with his head between his knees, his hands buried in his hair. "Zac?" she dropped her bag on the floor and pushed the door shut with her heel as she went to him. "Zac what is it?" she asked and stopped again when he looked up at her, his eyes red-rimmed and tears streaming down his face. "Zac?" she choked as she looked at the scattered mess on the coffee table. "The truth Emma." he said softly. "'Cause I know this can't be it. Tell me it's not." his eyes filled up again as she picked up the pictures and sorted through him. All the color left her body as he watched her look at the photos. Her chest heaved and she trembled hard, her mind screaming in protest at the flood of memories came that rushing back. Memories her subconscious had worked hard to push down into a dark place where she didn't have to deal with what she didn't want to. Couldn't deal with. "Ohgod...no...no...." she breathed as the photos in her hand floated to the floor. Her hand flew to her mouth and she ran for the bathroom, slamming and locking the door shut behind her before the nausea overtook her. Zac jumped from the couch and tried to stop her, but he wasn't fast enough and his heart shattered as he heard her getting violently ill and sobbing uncontrollably. He banged on the door, begging her to let him in. "Emma please..." he choked, his voice haorse and his throat sore from crying and yelling for her to let him in. He could hear her still emptying her stomach of contents he knew couldn't possibly be there. He waited, leaning back against the door as he listened for her to stop throwing up, hoping she'd let him in and tell him what those photos were, except the nagging feeling that he already knew what they were made him want to be sick himself. He'd never once contemplated what it would be like to kill a man until now.

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